About Xenomarine

Development updatesPosted by Logophil Fri, December 08, 2017 23:23:27Time for a pretty major update! 40 new alien types or variants, alien plants, destructible environment and lots of smaller improvements…

NEW: 7 new random tips addedNEW: pressing F1 shows random tip in main logNEW: added log message for when combat drones become hostile on taking damageNEW: character stats screen now shows effect of encumbrance on weapon skillNEW: added support for Mac Retina screensFIX: information panel (e.g. for achievement) sometimes hidden behind terminal/inventory panelsFIX: log message for destruction of barrel no longer refers to ‘crate’FIX: destroying a barrel no longer unlocks the ‘vandal’ achievementFIX: error with item description for blade converter, and for weapons with blade conversionFIX: removed visual artefacts (white vertical lines) while scrolling map on high-spec systemsFIX: speed of movement with keys held down now frame-independent (better for high-spec systems)FIX: bug with mechanic for missed thrown weapon attacksFIX: bug with target indicators when using mouse to target area effect weaponFIX: stimpacks introduced in Alpha 3.3 can now be used from inventoryFIX: bug with occasionally failing to unpause game after using security terminalFIX: hallucination visual effect not loading from save FIX: improved log message when aliens trigger trapsFIX: improved formatting of mousehoverinfo for dronesFIX: bug with description of traps in inventory screen

Plus for itch.io users without access to the Steam patches, here’s a summary of the other changes since Alpha 3

Development updatesPosted by Logophil Sun, November 12, 2017 10:10:29It seems those pesky Wurms have been tunneling through through
the steel walls of the space station, and creating weird alien caverns…

Development updatesPosted by Logophil Sun, November 12, 2017 10:08:07Another update focussed on responding to the great feedback
received on the Early Access so far, including what should be some quite
tangible changes to do with graphical variety, line of sight and game
balance.

Development updatesPosted by Logophil Sun, November 12, 2017 10:07:07Just uploaded a quick update to fix a couple of bugs relating to
camera movement, while also adding some new features requested by
players:

Development updatesPosted by Logophil Wed, October 25, 2017 16:50:35Xenomarine is now available on Steam early access (as well as on itch as before)! Here is a full list of changes in the new version (with credit given to the game testers on Reddit who recommended the changes)

New game modeNEW: Adventure mode (no permadeath but highscores disabled)

Better support for large and small screen resolutionsNEW: new option to choose log font size MOD: clicking on log no longer toggles height of log (removed because of interference with other mouse controls)MOD: removed background image for game logMOD: ammo/power/condition bars enlarged for improved visibility at different resolutionsFIX: bug with screen resolution preventing closing of mission terminal panelFIX: bug where unable to change settings on some screen resolutionsFIX: stretching of background image for options screen on very large and very small resolutionsFIX: improved scaling of inventory and achievement icons on different resolutionsFIX: improved scaling of value bars (ammo/condition/power)FIX: errors in scaling position of armor resistance icons on inventory panel

Game balance:MOD: improve health skill increases actual health as well as maxhealth (augustdream)MOD: slight increase to overall number of interactable level features, with more regularity for key features like terminals and workbenchesMOD: radiation rooms removed from levels 1 and 2 MOD: minor adjustment to difficulty levelMOD: average power for goggles increasedMOD: reduced taser dmageMOD: reduce trap frequency

User interfaceNEW: belt slots keyboard shortcuts shownNEW: improved keyboard targeting to allow targeting of crates and eggs (lapislosh)NEW: improved keyboard targeting for devices and throwing weapons (lapislosh)NEW: warning text to confirm death when starting new game, or exiting gameMOD: add option panel for use of teleporter for next levelMOD: increased basic log dimensionsMOD: slowed flashing of text colour for available skills in terminal (baconcow)MOD: controls info added to splash screen (lapislosh)MOD: long range scanner blips now stay on the map until the end of player turnFIX: bug where unable to close inventory by clicking inventory buttonFIX: add menu sound to game mode toggleFIX: bug where closing help screen for terminal/workbench unpauses the gameFIX: bug where pressing escape from armor screen opens options screenFIX: bug with ‘inventory full’ log message not showing correctlyFIX: bug making it impossible to close splash screen windows using ‘enter’ (lapislosh)FIX: encumbrance help text now shown when hovering over encumbrance bar as well as encumbrance text(lapislosh)FIX: panel exit buttons not wokring on splash screenFIX: problem with menu sounds not playing on settings screenFIX: bug where icon for alien in cover overlaps icon for alien debuffsFIX: bug where some actions (e.g use of quickslots) are still possible while game is pausedFIX: added value bar background for scannersFIX: changing focus to another application and then clicking back in the game no longer generates mouse input (lapislosh)

Development updatesPosted by Logophil Wed, August 30, 2017 23:38:58The second Alpha version of Xenomarine is now available to download on itch.io. Alpha 2 finally removes the level cap of previous releases, meaning there are now infinitely many levels of increasing difficulty. Other new features in Alpha 2 inlude randomly generated miniquests, 27 unlockable achievements, and 21 new item/armor/weapon types.

Here is the updated feature comparison chart:

..and a full list of changes:

Infinite LevelsNEW: Level cap removed: infinite number of levels (though content for later levels still limited)

New ArmorNEW: 1 new armor and helmet class added (8 base types in total)NEW: Armor can now have multiple resistances, including special resistance features such as ‘nonocarbon coating’MOD: Improved naming system for armor types, so armor, helmet, belt, boots and shield can be ‘good’, excellent’ or ‘exceptional’ based on bonusesFIX: Some inconsistencies in previous armor naming system

New ItemsNEW: 8 new scanner types includig structural analyser and bio-analyserMOD: Scanners now have limited energy and can be recharged with batteriesMOD: Greater rarity of biohazard traps

Other ImprovementsNEW: Add log info when player resists status effectsNEW: Sound effect for lightswordNEW: Sound effect for egg hatchingMOD: Chance to accidentally trigger traps when disarming increasedMOD: Enemies now have 50% chance of attacking other enemies when confusedMOD: Enemy blindness now reduces enemy chance to hit as well as confused movementFIX: Update to controls help page to reflect changes to quickslot functionsFIX: Handle cases where trying to apply devices to wrong kind of itemFIX: Error where inventory help message stays on screen after closing inventoryFIX: Bug where item names are not generated for some belts and shieldsFIX: Error with auto-torch help text in settings screen FIX: Bug where resistances do not protect against effect of floor tilesFIX: Bug where ramblers appear to move under trapsFIX: Status effects and effects of armor are now calculated when player is caught in the blast of own weaponFIX: Effects of armor are now calculated when player is caught in the blast of an exploding barrelFIX: Clicking no longer attempts to resize log on small screen resolutions

A full description of the changes will shortly be available on IndieDB, but here is a chart showing a comparison of the features available in the Alpha compared to the Demo:

Here is the complete changelog:

Skills and Class

NEW: ‘class’ stat (e.g. soldier, engineer) added to terminal and highscoresNEW: ‘hacking’ skill,-used to hack and acquire dronesNEW: ‘alien tech’ skill used for mind-control devices and other techNEW: skills flash when available for clarity

NEW: delete button pulsates when available to make it easier to findNEW: can now swap quickslots when using keyboard shortcutsMOD: removed torch restriction from second slot on beltNEW: more belt utilisation sounds

Help/Tutorial Text

NEW: help message when dragging usables to equipment slotsNEW: help message when dragging item to ineligible quickslot (torch/medkits)NEW: help text when trying to repair armor with no scrap/other help for workbenchNEW: log message ‘you are low on health’MOD: increased log font size NEW: experience now shown on char stats?NEW: message in main log to indicate encumbranceNEW: help tips between levelsNEW: dual-wielding help message when unable to equip second weaponNEW: info about changing movement controls on controls screenNEW: log message ‘you now have enough experience points to learn a skill’

Log/Info Text

NEW: black background to log during LSD trapNEW: remove ‘in the equipment crate’ from find messages (too long)NEW: severely injured and close to death message now come after welcome messages on new levelNEW: added outline to hover info to stand out against light areasNEW: text indicators for ‘out of ammo’ and status effectsNEW: mouseover alien show to hit with current weaponMOD: more accurate info text for multi-vaccineFIX: shield resistance info formattingFIX: bug with hidden log messages when resizing log

Other

NEW: UI scaling for small and large screensizes, with improved spritesNEW: improve demo and alpha completion experience, showing highscores for gameNEW: some game sounds improvedMOD: ‘illness’ debuff made less powerfulMOD: enemy distribution changed so more ‘themed’ levelsFIX: resting disabled when poisoned or radioactiveFIX: bug with some damage types not impacting health bar

Development updatesPosted by Logophil Thu, February 23, 2017 10:36:32This update includes a very large number of UI improvements, game balance adjustments and bug fixes. Highlights include significant improvements to keyboard ranged combat controls, an advanced inventory sorting function, animation for the player sprite, and a number of new items to be found and used - such as the personal teleport device!

NEW: added advanced inventory sorting mechanism NEW: add player pref to alway sort inventory NEW: animation added for inventory selection NEW: special sound effect to indicate invalid inventory actions NEW: ammo type added to weapon info in inventory MOD: can now auto-equip a non-dual-wielded weapon while dual-wielding MOD: can now check player status info while inventory screen open FIX: a few issues relating to auto-equip function when dual-wielding/using shield FIX: bug where using contextual menu for item selects item beneath the menu FIX: bug where some game controls not disabled while in inventory screen

Improved Keyboard controls

NEW: keyboard can be used to set target for throwing weapoms NEW: keyboard movement controls can be used to select target in targeting mode NEW: keyboard shortcut for delete/reorganise in inventory MOD: keyboard game controls no longer disabled when mouse is over main log MOD: better handlng of keyboard target selection when no enemies in range MOD: improved extended keyboard numpad controls MOD: pressing ‘fire’ when no target identified does not end turn MOD: keyboard fast move now stops on trap detection (as well as enemy detection) FIX: bug preventing cycling through more distant targets using keyboard

General User Interface

NEW: ‘rest’ command added (both mouse and keyboard) NEW: can now zoom in and out of minimap when enlarged NEW: heads up display info shown when triggering trap NEW: log size now saved as player preference NEW: ammo bars now shown for weapons in belt slots NEW: damage numbers outlined so as to stand out better against background NEW: restored health indicated by green numbers MOD: minimap now toggles between large and small, no option to hide minimap MOD: main log width increased MOD: log now automatically updates log messages to fit new size after resizing MOD: ‘escape’ can now be used to exit targeting mode MOD: traps now included in default target set MOD: space bar now skips current weapon instead of ending turn when dual-wielding MOD: more user friendly interface for acquiring armor improvement skill FIX: bug where closing terminal/workbench does not close help file FIX: health and experience bars now update while in inventory/terminal screens FIX: experience bar text formatting error when >1000 experience FIX: bug where levelup indicator only shown when >target experience not >= FIX: bug preventing ability to use zoom controls when first starting level FIX: various issues with area effect targeting FIX: bug where closing workbench initiates auto-movement FIX: bug with targeting range used when blind, or when torch turned off FIX: bug where pressing space bar does not close windows FIX: bug where windows remain open when clicking start game while window is open FIX: problems with pressing multiple menu items on splash screen in succession FIX: various problems with mouseover/target info not updating correctly

Balance Adjustments

NEW: 2x2 area effect added for some medium/heavy weapons MOD: goodie crates likely to be spawned in same areas as enemies MOD: terminal now more likely on level 1 and 2 MOD: scanners, forcefields, grenades and traps now all have weight 1 MOD: torches much rarer (due to introduction of batteries) MOD: chests now contain ammo not weapons at higher levels MOD: rocket launcher and flamethrower now ignore cover MOD: balance adjusted so fewer groups of aliens on early levels MOD: increased number of starting belt slots from 2 to 3 MOD: first two belt slots reserved for medkit and light sources MOD: torches can be crafted at workbench MOD: cost of various crafting options adjusted MOD: reduced ammo/turn cost of rapid-fire weapons MOD: number of ’goodie crates’ reduced for larger levels MOD: adjustments to amount of strength reduced by weakness and severe weakness MOD: improved balance through more sophisticated medikit drop chance calculation MOD: improved chances of finding forcefields MOD: increased probabiliy of large groups of aliens MOD: adjusted probability of finding belts with higher number of belt slots MOD: much wider range of armor status resistances generated MOD: number of ammunition drops increased FIX: bug making it possible not to find a ranged weapon in first two levels

Other Gameplay Related Changes/Fixes

MOD: can now target invisible squares when using throwing weapons MOD: scanner now ineffective when totally blind MOD: illness now has infinite duration until cured MOD: more emergency lights now convert to normal lights on activating generator FIX: bug where encumbrance penalty is not applied FIX: bug where weakness reduces strength cumulatively each turn FIX: bug where disarmed traps are aquired without trap skill FIX: barrel explosion damage type corrected from acid to explosive FIX: occasional bug with enemy attacks not causing status effects FIX: occasional bug where enemy moves twice on reloading weapon FIX: bug where acid resistance does not protect against acid FIX: bug where changing weapon in inventory sometimes does not take a turn FIX: bug where shooting a teleport trap causes player to teleport FIX: bug with forcefield being automatically turned on when acquiring new items FIX: bug with shield block effect calculation FIX: bug causing incorrect turn sequence when paralysed/stunned FIX: rpk 4.0 incorrectly treated as light weapon FIX: better handling of cases of attacking enemy on same square as trap

Morgue Files/Highscores

NEW: game stats for current game now available immediately on death FIX: rare bug with highscore ordering FIX: bug with highscore being duplicated when exiting game immediately after death FIX: bug causing crash when trying to record number of attacks using shield bash

MOD: improved determination of ‘level feelings’ MOD: updated ‘about’ text on splash screen MOD: auto-torch improved so does not turn off when briefly facing a wall FIX: fixed unstable method of quitting application in PC version FIX: bug where torch attempts to auto-turn-on when out of battery FIX: bug where accidentally triggering a trap with no blast radius does not injure player FIX: issue with inconsistent lighting in adjacent sections of large rooms FIX: bug where starting new game sometimes loads previous player character FIX: bug where line of sight goes through diagonally adjacent wall tiles